In third generation long term evolution (3GPP LTE) systems, there are a number of circumstances in which the network wishes to communicate with user equipment (UE) to notify the UE of incoming data or modification of system information. The network may page the UE by sending a paging message to initiate communications with a particular UE in idle mode or address the UE in connected mode, e.g. to notify modification of the system information. In some circumstances, the UEs may be located in geographic areas with poor network coverage or in which poor signal conditions exist, i.e., in areas in which the link budget is several dB below typical network values. Such areas may include inside buildings or isolated geographical areas. In such cases, UEs may not be able to communicate with the nearest serving base station (enhanced Node B (eNB)) in a manner to satisfy normal requirements of the current 3GPP standard. Machine Type Communication (MTC) from machine type devices (MTDs) poses a particular challenge in this regard due to small battery size and low power availability of the MTC UEs.
It would be therefore desirable to enable the network to successfully page or otherwise communicate control or other information with UEs that are located in geographic areas of poor network coverage or poor signal conditions.